Monday, October 17, 2011

Perry Campaign, anti-Mormon strategizing?

Emails obtained by The Daily Beast show an operative with close ties to Rick Perry's campaign engaged in anti-Mormon cheerleading.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has publicly distanced himself from the anti-Mormon rhetoric of a prominent Baptist minister who has endorsed his presidential campaign. But new evidence suggests that Perry's team may be quietly advancing the notion that Mitt Romney's faith should disqualify him from the White House.

The Daily Beast has obtained a series of emails that show an influential evangelical activist with close ties to the Perry campaign stressing the political importance of "juxtaposing traditional Christianity to the false God of Mormonism," and calling for a "clarion call to Evangelical pastors and pews" that will be "the key to the primary" for Perry.

The activist in question is David Lane, a conservative Christian power broker who directed fundraising for Perry's August prayer rally and was reportedly among the leading voices in the evangelical community lobbying for the Texas governor to jump into the 2012 race. ...

On Oct. 12, Bott sent an email to Lane informing him that he would soon be recording an interview with the Rev. Robert Jeffress, the Perry backer and Baptist minister who had made headlines at the Value Voters Summit ...

Bott indicated that the interview would be sympathetic to Jeffress, and defended the pastor for raising the Mormon issue: "What would anyone think if a candidate were a Scientologist?" Bott wrote. "Shouldn't they want to know what the implications were that may flow therefrom? [sic]"

Mark Miner, a spokesman for the Perry campaign, declined to answer questions about the nature of Lane's relationship with the campaign. When The Daily Beast shared quotes from the emails, Miner responded, "Based on what you've provided this appears to be a private conversation that has nothing to do with our campaign." According to the campaign's most recent FEC report, Lane doesn't appear to be on the candidate's payroll.Lane responded the next day with a lengthy email that began, "Thank you for what you are doing and for your leadership. Getting out Dr. Jeffress [sic] message, juxtaposing traditional Christianity to the false god of Mormonism, is very important in the larger scheme of things." ....

"We owe Dr. Jeffress a big thank you," he wrote to Bott, adding that the media criticism that has called attention to the pastor's comments was "a stroke of luck." ...